The Red Robin
by The Dark Knightress
Summary: *A Five Minute mystery I wrote for grammar class. Solution will be posted in as a separate chapter* Carrie Kelly has been murdered-by Commissioner James Gordon it seems. Batman refuses to believe his partner was murdered by his ally, and he's bent on discovering the truth.
1. The Case--Carrie Kelly

_**The Red Robin**_

He stared at the evidence bag, wondering how this simple piece of evidence could seal the fate of Commissioner James Gordon. He furrowed his brow and picked it up. Turning over the bag in his hands he approached the main-frame computer and punched in the case file number.

He started reading the case-report. He summarized it as he went along, making sure he kept his head clear. He went through the basics in his head.

On Febuary 2nd, 2002, thirteen year old Carrie Kelly had been murdered in Crime Alley. She was shot in the heart, from what appeared to be a bullet matching the diagnostics of James Gordon's personal weapon of choice. With Carrie now gone, that meant he was once again without a pupil-the Robin legacy abruptly ended until further notice.

Since the Commissioner was the first man on the scene, he was automatically drafted as the prime suspect to Miss Kelly's murder. After the diagnositcs on the bullet that had killed Miss Kelly had been ran, the speculation was confirmed. He was under police custody tonight, sitting inadvertently in a jail cell, as irony would have it.

But Batman knew something was not at all right with this crime. Commissioner Gordon had never had a traffic ticket, much less a murder record. Strangely enough the Commissioner had found a deep respect for the duo, and the feeling was mutual on Batman and Robin's end. This entire murder didn't fit together in Batman's mind, and that's when he'd went to investigate.

After the investigator's and other specialist teams had left the scene of the crime, Batman had let himself inside the scene before the coroner's came to take Miss Kelly's body. He had observed the fallen Robin for a brief moment before going to work and examining her body and the area around her.

He'd found the bullet wound. It had entered at the apex of the heart and traveled upward about a inch, taking out the entirety of the heart before exiting right below her right shoulder blade. Her face, frozen in the completeness of death, had paled. He recalled the twinge of sorrow which had poured into his heart but was quickly replaced by anger.

Something else about Miss Kelly's body had perturbed him In addition to her fatal gunshot wound, he'd spotted a small engravment on her neck. Batman had turned her head carefully and examined the engravement. It was a small date, 2-2-02. He had reached for the camera in his belt and snapped some photographs of Carrie's body before he dusted the area around her for physical evidence.

Setting the photographs on the examination table before him, he stared at the number dried on Carrie's neck. Why would Gordon-or whoever the murderer was-engrave the date on Carrie's neck after she'd been killed? It didn't quite make sense. He supposed it was psychological; the need for finalizing the killer's work before fleeing the scene. He shook his head and spotted his faithful butler at the foot of the stairs leading up to the Manor.

"Did you need anything sir?" Alfred asked, clasping his hands behind his back.

Batman replied. "Not at the moment."

Nothing more said, Alfred took to the stairs and retreated back up into the Manor. Batman turned away from the table, somewhat distraught over the realization that Carrie would not be returning after her weekend at home. He glared at the darkness of his haven and stalked over to the main-frame computer again, seating himself in the chair and awakening the computer from it's hibernation.

"It doesn't make sense," it mumbled to himself darkly. "Gordon had nothing against Carrie..."

With nothing to do to vent his rage, he brought up the working files on his gallery of rogues. He spent the next few hours trying to piece together the evidence of this crime to their individual methods, but nothing matched. It seemed that none of his usual troublemakers were involved with Carrie's death-as much as most of them would've liked to be.

But Batman refused to believe that Jim Gordon was guilty. He pushed himself away from the computer and went back to study the photographs. He studied them again, this time writing notes on the outside edges of the pictures whatever came to his mind. He took a red pencil and circled the date on Carrie's neck.

Ther was something about that date, and he was going to find out what.

_Who actually killed Carrie Kelly? __Who does Batman have to suspect? W__hat evidence is there to prove this? What is most interesting about this murder? _


	2. The Solution--Did You Crack the Case?

**Solution:**

**_Who does Batman have to suspect?_**

_His "rogues"-_Batman has many enemies, most of them being psychotic criminals bent on seeing him dead, or those most precious to him. Among many of his well known ones are The Joker, The Riddler, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Catwoman, and Scarecrow.

**_Who actually killed Carrie Kelly?_**

_Not Jim Gordon-_The killer was indeed not Commissioner James Gordon, given the fact that he has no "traffic tickets", much less a murder rap. The acutal killer was Harvey Dent, AKA Two-Face. For more info on Two-Face go to:  wiki/Two-Face.

_**What evidence is there to prove this?**_

_Two key sets of evidence are given-_At the scene of the crime, Batman inspects Carrie Kelly's body for any physical evidence. On the right side of her body he finds the fatal GSW. One the left side he finds the engravement of the date: 2-2-02. In itself, using both sides of Kelly's body, having murdered her on a date consisting of the second month, the second day of that month and the year 2002; are all clues to whom the actual killer really was-Two-Face, a man obsessed with two's.

_**What is most interesting about this murder?**_

_The personal aspect-_What's interesting is that Carrie Kelly was an unexpected addition to the Bat Family. How it troubles and distrauts Batman add to the personal side of the Dark Knight, and seeing how he deals with his anger, sorrow and detective passions all add to the developtment of the story. Also, using an upstanding citizen such as James Gordon as a suspect is rarely seen, and adds flavor to a Batman mystery.

**Author's Note to her Reader's:**

****Well thanks everyone. I really appriciate the reviews (and those to come) that come by this story. Me and my group of brain-stormers, who I will leave namless, worked very hard...I will have to say (not to brag or anything) I worked extremely hard putting the clues together and bringing the story under five-minutes. And, to the first reviewer IcyWaters, I have not received a grade on this yet...I'm really hoping for the full fifty points! :D

Thanks so much for the uplifting confidence! I read a lot Batman's mystery cases to put this together. I used Carrie Kelly (because Robin was the victim we drew out of a hat) as a very shadowed character, meaning she is not well recognized. Though unrecognized, Carrie was actually a Robin. You can look her up on wikipedia. She was an awesome teenage Robin, though she wasn't well received to audiences and they soon returned to a male counterpart. Stephanie Brown came before her If I am correct and was a love interest of Tim Drake, the youngest male Robin in Batman history.

That's what I know of Carrie off-hand. Thanks so much again, guys, It means a lot. Many blessings, and thanks for checking out my profile page and other stories. 'Ignite' is my biggest piece of work...and look for the following installments to the Nolan-Verse Knightress-Tweaked additions. :D :D :D

Happy Reading,

Knightress


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